New Straits Times, August 16, 2008
Sabah has the resources
for biotech development
SABAH stands to gain from the biotechnology industry
worth US$154 billion (RM495 billion) worldwide, with
its abundant natural resources and a
well-established oil palm sector.
Malaysian Biotechnology Corp (BiotechCorp), which is
the lead agency for Malaysia’s biotechnology
industry, has helped nurture 71 BioNexus companies,
of which two are from Sabah, showing that there is
room for the sector to grow in this part of the
country.
They are QL Agrobio Sdn Bhd, which has ventured into
using enzymes and microbes to produce poultry feed
from palm kernels, and YSG Biotech Sdn Bhd, which is
involved in plant tissue culture of teak and acacia.
BiotechCorp client support services senior
vice-president, Izhar Hifnei Ismail, said three more
Sabah based companies have applied for BioNexus
status, and that their applications were being
assessed.
“The three companies are involved in aquaculture,
production of bio-organic fertiliser and tissue
culture in high-value timber and ornamental plant
species,” he told reporters in Kota Kinabalu
yesterday.
Izhar said from its natural resources, Sabah could
tap into conducting tissue culture for the highly
sought-after global ornamental plant market, while
micro-organisms in the marine ecosystem could be
useful as microbes to develop diagnostic kits which
could further boost the aquaculture sector.
“Sabah also has vast oil palm plantations and
biomass is one sector that can be further explored.
Empty fruit bunches are just thrown away when these
could be used to create bio-fuel products,” he said.
BiotechCorp human capital vice-president Yazid Hamid
said the challenge now is to get more people to take
up jobs in the different branches of the
biotechnology sector.
“In the US, those who are working in the
biotechnology industry can earn between 40 per cent
and 60 per cent more than those who work in other
industries. We also need to commercialise work being
done in local universities and research institute,”
he said.
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